Blurred
by Youkomon
Summary: A storm, a roller coaster, a trapped Meiru...and Rockman must make the hardest decision he has ever been faced with...


An inward protest against all the Netto x Meiru fans who seem to generally overlook the importance of their connection to their navis i.e. Netto would voluntarily agree to Rockman's deletion by his father in order to be with Meiru _4Eva._ No kidding, I actually read a fic revolving around that entire plotline on some obscure website somewhere.

Those poor navis. They seem to be sent to hell and back for the sake of the canon relationship. But certainly in the case of Netto and Rockman, they're not going to even contemplate giving each other up for a 'girlfriend'. They're still kids after all.

In the case of Meiru and Roll, I'm not quite as sure. It's obvious that Roll adores her net op, unfortunately Meiru just…doesn't seem to care as much as her navi does as certain parts of the anime suggest. Ever notice how she dropped the 'chan' from Roll's name after the devil chip incident? 'I don't like you so much now I've seen you evil despite the fact it wasn't your fault.' Right. Because that's not petty or shallow at all.

Yes, an unfair assessment I know. But still…I pity Roll sometimes. I really do.

Side note: takes part sometime during Axess. Also, the roller coaster idea was something I came up with before I even knew of what happen in Axess eppy 42. Don't flame me because of it. Flame me because you're too stupid to string a sentence together pleez.

* * *

The rain whipped against his determined face as he gazed upwards at the vast metal structure; reflected as clearly in his eyes as the fear that resided there.

"Netto-kun?"

He blinked away the raindrops determined to obstruct his vision and stared down distractedly into the worried green ones of his net navi. The navi in question indicated the supporting beams of the roller coaster with a sharp jerk of the head.

"It's quite high…maybe you should wait for backup…"

A high pitched squeal tore through the suffocating atmosphere of the night like a knife slicing harshly through butter.

"NNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEETTOOOOOOOOO!"

The boy grinned at down at the cringing navi ruefully, running his rain-splattered fingers through several brown strands of his hair as he did so.

"I don't think she wants to wait Rockman!"

Shrugging the boy reached out for the cool smooth surface of the nearest beams, gripping them firmly and then proceeding to clamber up what was arguably the strangest ladder he had ever mounted. The network of beams was hardly the easiest things to manver his body across and he grunted as he felt the friction rubbing between metal and flesh.

Rockman started, removing his hands from his ear plates in the absence of a certain young girl's decibel defying cries. His eyes widened as there was a sudden flash of lightening that highlighted the youthful lines of his operator's face and clearly showed the increasing distance between the human's feet and the ground in one frightening split-second of visibility. The net navi bit against his lip, teeth threatening to chip away at the soft data harshly as his eyes hardened. The next second he gave a yelp as there was another burst of light inside the PET and Roll was deposited beside him. The kind navi placed her hands together in an appealing gesture and gazed at him hopefully, her eyes sparkling against the bitter landscape they both stood next to.

"Please help Meiru-chan!"

He smiled at her awkwardly, placing his hand on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting motion before turning to glare at Netto.

"I can't…but he will if he doesn't break his neck first!"

Roll's face turned pale by a few degrees and the hope in her expression dimmed somewhat. She spun to stare at the boy outside the PET's window, mirroring concern in the way her gentle eyes sought out his bedraggled shape.

"He'll be alright…won't he? Netto's a fighter! And it's not as though he's never done anything like this before…"

Her companion spun round suddenly, fury and something red and dangerous sparkling in his taut eyes, rising up from behind the irises.

Roll gasped, a slight squeak escaping her fearful mouth as she took a cautious step back. Seeing this, the blue navi stood stock still, regret passing over his features as he took in her frightened expression, heightened only by both the blue tones of the reflected storm clouds in a world beyond them and her concern for Meiru. It was something he could identify with only all too well.

The female navi swallowed, hands worrying at each other in an apprising manner before she carefully reached out to him and wrapped a timid arm around his own taut one.

"Everything will be alright. You'll see."

Something strange sparkled in Rockman's face at her words and he stared down at the ground.

"Yeah…" he said slowly.

Roll's eyes widened slightly in fear as she stared at him, having caught a glimpse at something similar to menace in his strange tone.

A flash of rain panned down, sliding over the slick metal and into Netto's bunched up hands, nails struggling to grip each shimmering surface. The boy groaned, his sheer amount of will power enabling him to find a hold and ease each limb in the uncomfortable emptiness of air before seizing the next one.

"Hurry up!"

Netto glanced up to see a thin-laced brown glare being beamed his way. Already the top of the high arch of the ride was close at hand. He was barely ten metres away from his childhood friend.

He frowned.

"Hang on Meiru-chan! I'm nearly there…"

No sooner had he spoken then a few of his fingers faltered and his left leg went rioting away from him into the night. He gasped, struggling to find an available hold, only aware of Meiru's sudden scream at his predicament and his navi's barely audible gasp.

"Netto-kun…"

With a final grunt, the boy swung his leg back into the entanglement of metal bars, a smug grin weaving it's way onto his face.

"Ha! See Rockman? I told you it would be fine!"

Meiru heaved a sigh of relief though she reined in any further complaints she had at the rescue attempt. None of the other park attendants were around to aid her as they were preoccupied with aiding other riders stuck in more dangerous positions that herself, namely the loop-the-loop. Unfortunately the error couldn't even be blamed on a computer malfunction or a Darkloid activity; the bad weather had simply overloaded the fuse box. She was also feeling rather lonely. She had happened to stumble upon the rare opportunity of getting a whole train to herself and since she had been subject to another recent spat with Netto…she had stormed off into the foremost carriage without waiting for him.

"I'm sorry!"

She blinked, halting in her gesture of running her hand through her ruined hair, inwardly cursing the rain for tattooing her skin firmly enough to leave her shivering in the slender fabric of her new dress.

"I didn't mean to say you were a coward. You're not…you just scream a lot and say silly things like 'don't leave me Netto!'"

A shocked look passed over the girl's face at Netto's shouted apology before it morphed into one of unbridled anger.

"It's natural to scream when you're frightened and besides, at least I don't go out each day deliberately looking for trouble! And I don't say silly things!"

Netto glared back with equal vigour, slowly closing the distance between them to less than five metres, hands still scrabbling forwards.

"Yes you do", he snarled, " You still think I'll leave you…when you know perfectly well that I'd never leave you alone, _ever_. 'Don't leave me Netto' honestly…you should know better."

Meiru froze before dropping her gaze and turning her head to gaze at the puddle forming by her flimsy shoes inside the carriage. Her hand ran over the wooden edge, carefully peeling at each chipped area in embarrassment. She smiled shyly, enjoying a perverse sort of amusement at how she felt forced to hide the blush creeping over her face.

"Thank you Netto…"

Unaware of the effect his words had on his friend, Netto continued grumbling, purposefully ignoring the raw patchwork of skin that grazed over his hands or the way his shoes were digging into his clenched feet.

And all the while, Rockman's eyes never left his struggling figure.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Shademan watched this heroic deed with much boredom, idly tapping his fingers against the framework of his throne.

"Could this be any more painful?"

Bubbleman sniggered, rubbing his podgy hands together with much glee.

"Yes, puka. Yes it could, puka!"

Shademan's eyes rolled upwards towards the giggling Darkloid refraining from pointing out that his question had been a rhetorical one.

"You want a dimensional area, don't you?"

The vertically challenged navi nodded, a wicked gleam appearing within his eye.

"Yes…finally I shall claim my revenge against Rockman and Netto Hikari! They will learn to tremble in awe of the name Bubbleman! Puka puka!"

The vampire sighed, flicking a delicate wrist towards his inferior comrade.

"Fine, go and scare them with your amazing bubbles, wow them with your original lines and quips…and bring Burnerman back some popcorn. He thinks it's funny to char them."

Bubbleman sniggered, the sarcasm floating up and over his head as he logged out.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Netto was just reaching out to grab the side of the carriage door when a glint of blue caught his eye. Heart falling down into the depths of his ribcage he turned to see the glimmer of a dimensional converter innocently sticking up out of the ground below.

"Oh hell."

"What is it?" Meiru asked, peering down over the side. The next second she gasped in shock as a glitter of pink hexagons flew overhead the entire ride in a wide shower immersed in a dome shape.

Rockman and Roll stared on in horror as Netto ground his fist into the side and let out a colourful string of curses.

"Now I have you, puka!"

A well known figure materialised next to Meiru, grinning snidely as he seized her by the hair and dragged her upright, her legs banging harshly against the side in an unnatural angle.

Netto glared upwards.

"Let go of Meiru-chan!"

The girl scowled, hands sweeping round and clinging onto Bubbleman's own in an effort to salvage the pain pressing in on her scalp.

"You heard him! Let me g-OOOOWWW!"

She let out a yelp as the darkloid quickly tugged on her hair hard before letting go and seizing the entire back of her skull in one hand. Frowning at her in anger he shook her furiously, taking in pleasure at the sight of Netto's horrified face as her bones rattled in his grasp. He halted, letting her prone body loll forwards, sapped of all rebellion.

"STOP IT!"

Bubbleman looked down in displeasure at Roll's vicious face filling up Netto's PET. Despite himself, he physically quailed under the strength of her heated gaze before reminding himself who held the upper hand.

"Make me, puka", he whispered.

He grinned as the girl navi's gaze slowly dropped to the floor.

Rockman looked at Roll's face, wincing in sympathy as he saw the shimmering emotion coating her emerald eyes before his hand balled up into a fist.

"Netto-kun."

It was a command, not a request.

His operator's brown eyes fizzed with righteous fury as he nodded, hooking a single arm around a thin beam and arching back into the shadows. His other arm fumbled around until his hand located the a few select battle chips, rapidly slotting them into the PET before emerging with the defining graphite colour of the syhcro chip.

Rockman stretched out a hand, his palm facing Roll's face smoothly.

"You'd better get back to your own PET Roll-chan."

The girl swung her head down and round as she logged out, pain unmistakable on her face.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Shademan toggled with some controls in front of him before laying back and sighing irritably.

"Honestly, 602 channels to choose from and virtually nothing on to watch…"

He then turned his attention back to Bubbleman's antics not showing a single trace of surprise as a burst of bright light engulfed the body of Netto Hikari while the rain continued to buckle down against his view. He did however note Meiru's position with interest.

"There's more than one way to break a body…"

oooooooooooooooooooo

Netto streaked upwards, his new body gracefully using the wet surface as an aid towards his speed rather than a fatal hindrance. Leaping up, he landed squarely on the last carriage facing Bubbleman.

In response, the navi merely closed a grubby fist around Meiru's neck causing her to gasp and kick out frantically.

Netto wavered, his eyes unsure as he dithered on what to do. Having had enough, Bubbleman unleashed a fast swarm of water spheres towards his opponent.

Rockman grimaced from his position, swiftly taking charge as he flipped the body over the side and thrust it through the gaps, carefully monkey-barring over to behind Bubbleman's back. Then with experience on his side, he stealthily wriggled through the railings, creeping closer to the navi who was temporally blinded by rain and darkness.

Meiru's eyes widened upon sight of him and she gave a happy squeal.

"Netto! You came for me!"

If Rockman could have face palmed he would have.

The next second Bubbleman whirled round and a very creepy smile appeared on his face.

The fingers of R Rockman clawed slightly at the planks of soaked wood littering the track.

"Leave Meriu-chan alone, your fight is with me."

Bubbleman twisted his head to one side.

"Who said I came to fight you? I just wanted my revenge."

R Rockman gave him a puzzled look before horror morphed on instead when an ear-splitting scream invaded his ears as the evil navi pulled back Meiru by her neck and shoved her sideways, her knees toppling against the side and sending her spiralling off the carriage.

Bubbleman smirked, comically saluting before logging out…but Netto hardly noticed, already diving forwards and over the edge, blankets of rain coating his slight figure.

Meiru's hooded eyes caught his own and she reached up with shivering pale fingers even as she plummeted, an apology aching on her lips. Her scream echoed, not the prissy cry of a princess nor the outraged yell of a hormonally imbalanced teen but the honest sharp call of a young girl fearing for her life.

Desperate, all common sense lost in his mind, Netto rotated his arms rapidly, gaining momentum and slicking them down by his sides to descend rapidly after her.

It was then that Rockman was struck with the true purpose of Bubbleman's hostage situation.

Netto's fear and aderelin raced through him and peering out his operator's eyes he saw the dimensional area tremble and recalled how the hexagons had started peeling away as soon as Bubbleman had disappeared in a shower of pixels.

_Six…_

His link in their shared body faltered, the shoulder plates bulging and dissolving with the diminishing of pink. And Rockman felt a panic like no other grip him and hold fast.

_Five…_

The ground yearned forwards, splashes of bubblegum and lolly sticks already visible to their yawning eyes, Meiru always below them, always reaching up, up…

_Four…_

"Rockman, I need you."

_Three…_

"Rockman, I know you can do this! You have all the moves to make us fall faster! Do it!"

Oh yes, Netto was right. He could make them fall fast enough to grip Meiru, cushion her landing…but at what cost?

_Two…_

"NETTO!"

_One… _

But then the navi coating would dissolve and it would be Netto holding Meiru, taking the impact of three hundred feet.

_One and a half…_

"ROCKMAN!"

Choose, Rockman, choose.

**Zero.**

Deep within his mind, Rockman heaved upwards, slamming into Netto and forcing the boy into a sleeping state of unconsciousness, somersaulting round to land on his feet.

He kept his gaze down, away from everything, everything he had done. He blinked as a trickle of red crept in and around his boot.

'No…'

He gasped, feeling Netto stir and cry out within them both.

Laboured breathing. But it was Rockman who spoke.

"I couldn't…"

Silence. The red rung drier, no indication of the time that had passed except for the still brownness it turned. An ugly scab on the ground. A scar on the conscience.

Netto spoke up.

"I know…"

And Rockman fell to their knees as he felt the forgiveness of his partner, as they both felt the knowing that each valued the life of the other a little bit more than another. And it was wrong. But it was just the way it was.

Like Enzan would do for Blues. Like Blues would for Enzan. Like a now choking Roll would no doubt have done for Meiru.

Meiru…

Roll's sobs wheezed through, cracking Rockman's heart and turning it into a moulted blue.

"I'm sorry."

There was no answer. Not that he expected or deserved one.

Netto reclined into the recess of their mind but not before Rockman made one final realisation. He looked up to see the dimensional area still surrounding them.

"He put it back up…right at the last second…he put it back up. Just to make us wonder if I made the right choice…"

Netto shuddered, retreating. He was not ready to face such a revelation.

Rockman stared down at the gloves he wore, coating Netto's hand. They had never come off.

They were sullied now of course.

He looked over to a crumpled hump of white satin and red hair, gingerly reaching out to touch it. It was cold. The hand settled over the hair, carefully stroking away the dried blood.

"I'm sorry Meiru…I had to choose…"

The navi looked up, brown eyes clouded with despair, confusion and a strange, perverse sense of relief flooded both over him and his operator that they would never hear that grating call for help from her again.

The sun peeked out, staining the sky a pale whish of blue.

"…and I chose him."

* * *

Think about it. If a navi had to decide between the life of their operator and another human friend who would they choose? I guess it varies with the navi but in this scenario I imagine Rockman would place far more empathises on his precious Netto-kun's life than Meiru, however much Netto cares for her.

Bear in mind that these kids are about eleven or twelve years old and at that age best friends of their own gender are one of the most people in their life. Romantic love has nothing to do with it. Unfortunately many writers end up forcing these children to make out quite heavily with each other and yes, I'm probably guilty of the same thing at various points.

I've read a fic describing the heavy 'sexual tension' between Netto and Meiru and then them partaking in a passionate kiss you would see sixteen year olds doing. It really does makes one's mind buckle.

I beg of you, help the realism spread and at least come up with a plausible excuse for the making out rather than 'just because you thought it would be cute'.

And now I felt like a whiny prat. --


End file.
